By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
LOCAL EQUITIES surged on Monday, as investors cheered the United States and China’s decision to suspend the imposition of new tariffs until next year.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) jumped 2.24% or 165.05 points to close at 7,532.90 yesterday, starting the first day of December on a positive note. The broader all- shares index also advanced 1.86% or 82.92 points to 4,524.25.
“This rally is primarily influenced by the talks between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in the G20 summit after they agreed to suspend the imposition of new tariffs until January next year. So this news buoyed market sentiment as the two countries expressed a conciliatory tone,” Timson Securities, Inc. trader Jervin S. de Celis said in a mobile message.
US President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a 90-day pause on their ongoing trade war, with Mr. Trump saying he will leave tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods at 10% until 2019, as opposed to his earlier plan to raise it to 25%.
The officials will continue to negotiate lingering disagreements on technology transfer, intellectual property, and agriculture over the next 90 days.
“Although the two countries have agreed to suspend the imposition of trade tariffs until January 2019, we’re still not sure if this move will be the start of a de-escalation. We’re yet to see too the effects of this move on the macroeconomic figures of the two countries by January next year,” Mr. De Celis added.
P2P Trade Online Head of Marketing and Development Arbee B. Lu also noted that the PSEi took its cues from abroad, prompting the local market to finally break out of resistance.
“After rising by more than 10% since the trough in mid-November, the PSEi finally managed to break out of resistance today, accompanied by heavy volume no less,” Ms. Lu said in an e-mail.
Index futures in the US are also pointing toward a big surge for Wall Street on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures already up by more than 400 points on Sunday night. S&P 500 futures, meanwhile, gained 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite futures firmed up 1.8%.
All sectoral indices moved to positive territory, led by the property counter which firmed up 2.9% or 104.63 points to 3,705.77.
Holding firms gained 2.75% or 199.05 points to 7,429.95; industrials rose 1.81% or 193.45 points to 10,848.59; mining and oil added 1.27% or 107.85 points to 8,595.48; financials picked up 0.99% or 17.45 points to 1,775.70; while services had a 0.75% uptick or 10.55 points to 1,412.10.
Some 1.49 billion issues valued at P10.22 billion switched hands, slowing from the previous session’s P20.09 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners, 115 to 73, while 48 names were unchanged.
Net foreign outflows slimmed to P123.07 million from Thursday’s P680.48 million.

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